US man jailed over bid to join al-Qaeda

A man who as a teenager was seen on surveillance video proclaiming his commitment to jihad has been sentenced to 13 years in prison despite his tearful pleas to a judge that he was an immature high school student at the time he plotted to join al-Qaeda.

"I am not the monster that the government says I am," Justin Kaliebe told US District Court Judge Denis Hurley before being sentenced. "I never intended to hurt anyone. That's not who I am."

Kaliebe, now 22, also faces 20 years of post-release supervision.

The judge said Kaliebe's offence "is very serious."

"He was radicalised to the nth degree," the judge said. "He was a very dangerous individual. People who engage in this type of activity ... must recognise that serious consequences will follow."

Kaliebe was a 16-year-old high school student who had recently converted to Islam from Roman Catholicism when he landed on the radar of undercover agents on the hunt for would-be radicals on suburban Long Island.

FBI agents and New York City police officers watched him for 18 months before arresting him four years ago after he went to John F. Kennedy International Airport intending to fly to Yemen, where he would join the militant group al-Qaeda.